Turkey breaks record in solar, wind power output in July

The share of electricity produced from solar and wind energy accounted for a record 21.6% of Turkey’s overall power output in July. Solar power plants generated a total of 2.07 billion kWh and wind farms 4.2 billion kWh in July, according to Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez.

Turkey is pushing to boost its renewables capacities in an effort to reduce its dependence on energy imports amid the crisis and rising prices caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. To this end, it has launched large-scale projects and solar and wind power plant tenders.

Solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal make up more than half of Turkey’s total power generation capacity

By the end of March, renewables, including hydropower, solar, wind and geothermal, accounted for more than half of the country’s overall installed electricity capacity, which totaled over 100 GW, according to Daily Sabah. Last year, renewables made up more than 95% of new power capacity additions in the country.

In 2021, renewables accounted for over 95% of Turkey’s power capacity additions

Turkey’s annual natural gas consumption is on the rise, and is expected to reach 62-63 billion cubic meters in 2022, up from a record 60 billion cubic meters in 2021 and 48 billion cubic meters in 2020. Russian imports make up 45% of Turkey’s annual gas needs.

Investing in renewables instead of fossil fuels could boost Turkey’s GDP by USD 8 billion a year and cut emissions by 8%

By shifting investments from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, Turkey could achieve significant economic benefits, including a GDP increase of USD 8 billion a year and an 8% greenhouse gas emissions cut compared with 2019, according to a recent report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Labour Organization (ILO).